Valentine Rice Bags

We received a wheat heating bag from a friend for Christmas and my kids have LOVED it!  They fight over who gets to take it to bed with them.  I decided it would be fun to make little rice bags for each of the kids in my daughter's class for their valentines this year.  She has been SO EXCITED and has loved helping.  Her job has been to sew one side of the bag and then fill them with rice.  I'm sewing them shut so we don't end up with rice everywhere.  I just used some fabric I've had stored forever but never found anything to use it for.  PERFECT!  I thought about making them heart shaped but decided for the quick method since I was making 22 of these things.

I found a cute poem and modified it to fit better and tied it on with a little curling ribbon.  Blue for boys and pink for girls.  We're not quite finished with the girls yet but you get the idea.
 

Instead of giving something sweet,

I made a pillow for your Valentine treat.

This little pillow filled with rice,

is such a comforting device.

Microwave 1 or 2 minutes on high

and kiss those aches and pains goodbye.

Apply it to a troubled spot

and the heat will help ease the pain a lot.

Or, warm those little toes so cold.

You'll find this nice to have and hold.

Or, freeze it for a little while,

and fix that boo-boo up in style.

Instead of a bag filled with ice,

use this pillow filled with rice. 

I was surprised how quick and easy these came together.  I didn't try anything fancy to cover up the stitches.  I'm sure the kids won't mind and it will be fun to get something other than just candy and cards.

Make your own Valentines

Okay, I can't stand it.  I must post something.  Since I don't have pictures of all my Christmas gift projects anymore (but hope to have them back soon) I figured I would make a post of some fun Valentine ideas. Yes, I know it's still weeks away but I LOVE VALENTINE'S DAY!!!  I don't expect lots of money to be spent for Valentine's Day and I hate the people make WAY too big a deal of it.  You should show people you love them all year and not just on one day.  I love Valentine's day for the fun things you can create and the reminder it is to me of how lucky I am to have so many people to love.  I'm all about doing something homemade instead of the generic store-bought cards.  I just love finding a fun idea to create!  I'm already thinking of a fun project for my daughter to take to school.

I figured I would share the fun Valentine's we made last year.  We made little purses for my daughter's class using THIS template.  We cut them out of a cute paper, attached a ribbon for the handle and then folded a little bag of sweetheart candy inside and closed it with a foam sticker.  She LOVED them!

My son was not about to give away purses but he was okay with handing out mice to his friends.  It did take some convincing to have him use pink paper though.  The would be cute any color I would guess.  They are just made out of  different sizes of hearts, a little pipe cleaner and a googly eye.  I didn't use cardstalk but will if I ever make these again.  Construction paper was WAY too flimsy!

I got some cookie flowers from a friend a few years ago and had to make some of my own.  SO EASY and SO CUTE!  All you  need is a few kabob sticks, any cookies you can stick them through and some gummy candies.  You could really use your imagination on these and make a really cute cookie bouquet.  This was a last minute one I made to go to a friend's house a couple years ago.

Sugar cookies are ALWAYS a must.  I made one for my husband our first Valentine's Day and it's become a tradition.  My kids even look forward to their own cookie.  You can't go wrong with heart shaped pancakes and chokecherry syrup.  And...there are times of COMPLETE shock when my husband comes home with flowers.

I'm excited that we'll be with my family for Valentine's Day this year. I'm excited to help my daughter get her Valentine's ready for her class to leave with her teacher because she'll miss the class party...she's NOT happy with me!

Chocolate dipped cookie and cake suckers are on my list of fun Valentine treats.  YAY!!!

Pillowcase Dress

I saw a tutorial for a 3-tier pillowcase dress and HAD to make one for my little one.  I wasn't a fan of the big tie on the shoulder so I modified it and made a strap with a cap sleeve.  It didn't take much fabric at all.  In fact, these are scraps I had left over from some other projects earlier this summer.

I LOVE how it turned out and so did she.  She was so funny walking around in it swishing back and forth.  I just wish it wasn't so cold now so she could wear it a little longer.

'I Spy' Blanket

I had a neighbor in Arizona that was given an 'I SPY' baby blanket. All the quilt blocks had different pictures of things on them that you could play the 'I SPY' game with. I loved it and have wanted to make one since then. Her quilt was pretty intricate in that the blocks were in all hexagon shapes...I knew I wouldn't even attempt that one but I could do squares.

I was on my friend Jamie's craft blog awhile ago. She's one of those people that can make anything look cute! She posted a picnic blanket she had made from scraps of fabric she had saved from different sewing projects. I had LOTS of scraps from over the years and even had most of them cut into quilt blocks already. They were as cute as Jamie's fabric scraps but I had lots of them. I always had the intentions of using them to make an 'I SPY' quilt but always procrastinated thinking I didn't have enough different things yet.

I was inspired. I pulled out all the quilt blocks and started laying them out. I would have to have duplicates of some squares but I had plenty to make a little quilt for picnics. And how fun to have a built in game on a picnic?

I mixed the patters and made strips of boy-ish and girly patterns. I didn't plan on a specific size but happened to make the PERFECT size to use a piece of yellow fabric for the back I have been storing forever. I couldn't have cut it to make it a more perfect fit. I didn't have quilting stands so I improvised there too and just tied it on the floor. I figured it was for picnics so I didn't mind if it had a little...uh...personality.

I saved the extra blocks from this one and am starting to save for the next. I love how it turned out!

And the best part...it ended up costing less than $10 for the batting, thread and embroidery floss. The kids had so much fun playing 'I SPY' on it before it was even finished. We took it out in the backyard to eat lunch the other day and it might be a little distracting while they're eating but it kept them on the blanket near their food at least.